13 October 2023
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has strongly
criticised the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for
its supposed ‘anti-Turkey’ stance, during his opening
speech of the legislative year in Ankara.
The Strasbourg-based court had ruled that an imprisoned
teacher’s rights have been violated in Turkey — in a
landmark decision that could have far-reaching
implications for tens of thousands facing similar charges in
Turkey.
Referring to the ECHR’s ruling on teacher Yüksel
Yalçınkaya, Erdoğan claimed the judgement was the last
straw that broke the camel’s back.
The ECHR ruling has effectively demolished the reasoning
underpinning the Turkish judiciary, which has sentenced
hundreds of thousands of citizens on flimsy evidence of
membership of a terrorist organisation since after the
botched coup attempt of July 2016.
And the court’s decision potentially sets a precedent for
tens of thousands of similar cases at ECHR.
In an open challenge to the authority of the court, setting
the stage for a new clash between European institutions
and Ankara, Erdoğan made it clear that Turkey would not
abide by the court’s ruling during his recent speech.
Accusing ECHR of supporting terror organisations,
Erdoğan said: “We will neither respect nor heed the calls of
institutions that are in the same basket with terrorists”.
Yalçınkaya’s lawyer, professor Johan Vande Lanotte, said it
was unfortunate for Erdoğan to announce Turkey would
not abide by the judgement, although it did not come as a
surprise.
Lanotte, who served as the deputy prime minister of
Belgium for more than 13 years, underlined the
judgement would set a precedent for tens of thousands of
Turks who face similar charges.
“The ruling should be implemented in Turkey and I hope
there will be courageous judges who would do so,” he
said. “I think it is a fact that EU is lenient on Turkey
because of the refugee crisis. However, EU should make it
clear that business cannot go on with Turkey as usual. The
Union should apply pressure,” he added.
EU ‘too soft’ for fear of refugee
influx?
In its landmark ruling at the end of September, the grand
chamber of ECHR said Turkey violated three articles of the
European Convention on Human Rights in the case of
Yalçınkaya — namely Article 7 (no punishment without
law), Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 11 (freedom
of assembly and association).
Teacher Yalçınkaya was convicted of membership in a
terrorist organisation in 2017 by a high criminal court due
to his links to the Gülen movement.
The Turkish court based its ruling on his alleged use of the
encrypted ByLock app, membership in a labour union and
having an account at Bank Asya. Yalçınkaya’s sentence was
upheld by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals in October
And the Turkish Constitutional Court also rejected
the application lodged by Yalçınkaya as inadmissible.
The ECHR criticised Turkey’s use as evidence of ByLock as
broad and arbitrary, and lacking necessary safeguards for
a fair trial.
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The court also noted that Turkish authorities used
Yalçınkaya’s legal membership in a trade union as
evidence against him, thereby violating his right to
freedom of assembly and association under Article 11.
In the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in 2016, having
an account at the now-closed Bank Asya (one of Turkey’s
largest and legal commercial banks at the time); using the
encrypted ByLock messaging application (downloadable
on Apple’s App Store and Google Play); and subscribing to
the Zaman daily, were all construed as benchmarks for
identifying and arresting alleged followers of the Gülen
movement.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a member of the Turkish
Parliament from the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party (YSP)
and a prominent human rights activist, said the ECHR
ruling was “extremely important” — not only for the
victims but for everyone in Turkey who was seeking
justice.
“It was like how Nazis treated Jews, people were labelled
as being members of a terrorist organisation overnight
and imprisoned in hundreds of thousands. Hundreds
committed suicide or lost their health. It was like a
genocide,” he said.
Criticising the EU for being too soft on Erdoğan,
Gergerlioğlu said the Turkish president was using the issue
of refugees as a blackmail against Brussels.
“EU should have been more outspoken on human rights
violations but apparently they are concerned about a
possible influx of refugees,” he said.
If Erdoğan keeps his promise and does not implement the
ECHR judgement, Turkey could face a similar fate to
Russia, which was expelled from the Council of Europe in
March 2022, Lanotte said.
“If Turkey does not respect the court’s decision, then there
is committee of ministers who should decide about the
future of Turkey in Council of Europe. I think the decision
time is getting closer,” he warned.
v AUTHOR BIO
Selçuk Gültaşlı is a board member of the European Center for
Populism Studies, an NGO based in Brussels. He was formerly
the Brussels bureau chief of Turkish newspaper Zaman —
which was closed by decree of the Turkish government in July
2016.
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